Wake up and respect your inner Queen

The only other time a Bollywood movie has inspired this column is when I wrote about Cocktail. In that film — a modern, London-based love triangle — the free-spirited hero finally chooses a girl because she is more traditional. Of course, filmmakers have a right to make what they want. But, the fact that our films needed to pander to such conclusions saddened me. It made me write a column about Indian men’s inexplicable love for phulkamakers. I appealed to them to forsake hot phulkas and celebrate our working women in the interest of the nation.

That aside, I had become resigned to the idea that Bollywood would never take a bold, liberal stance when it came to women. Even if a film dared to, the box office, comprising a conservative Indian audience, would punish it severely. I am happy — in fact, delighted — to be proved wrong. In the past few weeks, a fine film called Queen has not only said what needed to be said, it has also demolished old box office expectations.

The film, marketed as a fun entertainer, has done more for the feminist movement and women’s empowerment than people will give it credit for. Queen is the story of Rani, a Punjabi girl from a conservative family living in West Delhi. Amazingly, like most Indian girls, she isn’t even aware of the cloistered and confined life she is living. Her worldview is limited to getting married, wanting the ceremonies to go well, and ensuring that people dance enough. She seeks her husband’s or parental approval for most of life’s decisions — from taking up a job to joining a college.

Dumped at the altar, Rani goes on a solo honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam to get over her pain. On her first trip abroad, she befriends a free-spirited girl and shares a room with three male backpackers, all of different nationalities.

Her first exposure to the free world — a society where nobody questions you about your sexual, parenting and career choices — baffles her but also becomes a coming of age lesson like none other. All her friends are somewhat dysfunctional, not so well off and unsettled. They are everything Indian parents do not want their children to be. Yet, they seem happier with their lot than the well-settled life so many middle class Indians aspire to. Suffice to say, Rani learns to stand up for herself and becomes a Queen. She rejects the man who dumped her but is now stricken with remorse; even going as far as thanking him.

By Bollywood standards, the film has a highly unconventional ending. Yet, it worked with the audience. That alone is cause for celebration.

There are hidden messages in the movie, perhaps more than the makers even intended. One, we have trapped our women. We think we care for them, but we suffocate them in the name of security, safety, morality, tradition or culture. We are not comfortable with an Indian woman expressing herself. A woman has to be a good daughter, sister or wife. It isn’t enough for her to be just, well, herself. In some ways, they endure disguised slavery. In the civilized, developed world, where women have choices, they do not choose to live like this. Every girl in India deserves a journey of self-discovery like Rani.

The film also shows us the need for India to integrate with the Western world. When are we going to do that? We are so lost in our caste and religion politics, so close-minded about anything foreign, so caught up in the duties society imposes on us, so pressurized to get marks and land a job that we don’t live as free and full as humans can. When did you hear of Indian students taking gap years after college to explore the world? How will we react if a girl says she wants to try out a few relationships before she settles down? In the name of preserving morals, we want to tie our women up. What has that led to? Where are there more rapes? Here in don’t-date, don’t-drink, don’t-wear-modern-clothes India; not in Europe, where dating is a personal choice, alcohol is available at every corner-store and people are free to wear swimsuits on beaches.

We need to ask some questions. Where have we gone wrong in our traditions and what do we need to change? We need to unshackle our women. We need to learn, connect and behave in tune with the free world. Not just Rani, not just women; but also all of us need to awaken and respect our inner Queen.